The Art Of Simplicity

Here’s the gist: The more you simplify your financial life, the easier it is to feel free.

Taking back our power over finances and having money supporting our life expression instead of money and financial angst controlling and limiting us is ultimately what we all want.

This is the essence of financial freedom and what this video is all about…

When we are financially free we get to dictate the pace.

When we are financially free we have obliterated the typical stress and anxiety that is normally attach to money.

Financial Freedom is about leveraging our finances to empower our dreams and passions, not squelch them.

The more you simplify your life the easier it is to take back your power and direct it towards your life expression.

That’s an important principle.

But we have a challenge…

We have been brainwashed into believing complexity is uber cool. We’ve been told complexity means “valuable” and “better”. It we don’t understand it or it’s got loads of knobs and things we have no idea how to use then it must be mega special.

Complexity has been used as a distraction for centuries, as a means to dupe nations and to stop people asking important questions so they can be kept compliant and accepting rubbish.

Tweet : The financial industry has used complexity for decades to sell people crap investments and make massive profits

At the same time societies definition of simplicity has become blurred and at a level even frowned upon.

Simplicity has been associated with simplistic – the quickest option, a short cut, lower in value or the path of least resistance.

It’s none of these things.

Webster defines simplicity as:

SIMPLICITY: “the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded.”

Closer. But, to me, simplicity is much more than just an end state.

Try these definitions on…

Simplicity is:

ruthlessly extracting anything in your life that stands between you and your joy.

deeply discerning and life giving.

about eliminating fuss, clutter, obligations, noise, actions, expenses, stuff and even people that take way rather than add to experiencing our fullest, most alive, lives.

a journey to increased intimacy with the truth of what really juices us.

brings increased intimacy with the truth of who we really are, and what we really want.

I think intimacy is simplicities greatest gift and becoming intimate with our intrinsic worthiness begins by peeling off the excess layers of clutter and complexity we bring into our life – financial and otherwise – under the misguided belief that these things will validate us and prove we are okay.

START THIS INTIMACY ADVENTURE BY SIMPLIFYING YOUR FINANCES

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

-Albert Einstein

Given the typical financial snapshot, it’s no wonder many are losing the fight these days.

An average person can easily have a dozen or so financial accounts for various purposes: an assortment of credit cards, a couple of student loans, a pension or two, an everyday transaction banking account, a savings account, joint account, a mortgage, store accounts, a fancy new revolving credit overdraft, a new high-interest online savings account, investment accounts and the list goes on.

You need an accounting degree just to keep the account numbers and names straight. Let alone all those damn passwords. Don’t laugh, I’ve heard countless stories that contain, “Oh yeah, I forgot I even had an account there…” and perhaps as you have been digging through your paper work you even uncovered some only pension or saving account you forgot about, or perhaps some debt, or old insurance policy.

Each of us is going to have a different tipping point where the “foundation” ends and the “excessive” begins. Some life situations do require us to have various accounts and more complexity.

I know there are many in the Wealth Chef world who love travel, who live in different countries and move around the world (a bit like me ;)) or work as expats and yes, this brings complexity but the key is to always “Make it as simple as possible but not simpler.”

But many of us have unnecessary accounts we can simplify, consolidate, or eliminate in our financial lives.

Remember, focus on mastering your money and that means going from…

…“Ugh, I can’t keep up with this!”

to

…“Huh… this isn’t as hard as I thought. I can do this!”

As Dante said –

“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.”

Gaining a firm grip on your total financial situation unlocks all sorts of benefits down the road, and right now you have the opportunity to make this a brand new canvas on which to create your life the way you want it to be.

To do that we will first strip away and then slowly add back things that make your life easier, better and aligned to your vision. For example, you could even reintroduce small amounts of complexity back into your finances. Think of it as if you are “making room” for complexity that you actually want.

Another benefit of simplifying is that the road to mastery gets significantly shorter. The systems and habit you master whilst becoming a Wealth Chef become easier and easier to maintain. It takes considerably less time, energy, and stress to stay in control, rather than to gain that control initially. As a consequence, we are far more likely to stick with it and keep taking action, resulting in accelerated learning, improving our results and so the victorious cycle continues.

I have tried numerous money management tools but time and again have come back to using the simple spreadsheets I share with you in the resources you get with The Wealth Chef book – why because I use them. They are simple to maintain, I can tweak them and make them look and work how I want them to look and now after practice and getting comfortable with them they take me next to no time to update.

This is the key…

…because they are easy I use them and because I use them I stay in control and stay as the captain of my money ship.

I love this quote from Billy Joel

“I am, as I’ve said, merely competent.

But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.”

There is a Chinese proverb that goes:

“The fox that chases many rabbits catches none”

-Chinese Proverb

Instead of spending 6-years (or more) getting your financial PhD, why not just sit down and simplify your financial world and master these simple 5 Recipes for Wealth?

Tweet : Increased financial flexibility is a gift you get to give yourself

The last benefit of simplicity is increased flexibility. We can plan until we are blue in the face, but none of us can anticipate everything. Life happens. The ability to adapt is essential in all aspects of our lives. Finances are no exception.

You get laid off… a close family member falls ill… an unexpected pregnancy…, an opportunity to up and off to a new continent…., even an unexpected marriage! It’s during the times when life smacks you across the face (whether your own fault or not) and hands you opportunities that you’ll be most thankful for taking the steps to increase simplicity.

When life sometimes deals blows, the accompanying financial issues often weigh down your recovery by piling on extra stress. But a simplified approach to finances can reverse this effect. It can be a proverbial trampoline for those times we get knocked down.

Simplicity and flexibility aren’t just there for life’s “challenging” stuff, they there for life’s opportunities too.

Simplicity and flexibility allow you to jump at the things that come your way.

Keeping things relatively simple is the thing that has enabled me to jump at opportunities, to pack up and move countries in a heartbeat and to follow my dreams. That’s what real freedom is to me.

In the comments please share …

What is one thing you can do NOW that would simplify your financial life?

Remember to share much as possible because thousands of Wealth Chef’s in the making come here each week for juicy wealth snacks, insight and inspiration as they create their juicy financially free lives too. Your ideas and shares may trigger someone to have a big breakthrough.

Thanks as always for reading, watching and sharing so generously and for choosing to master this key ingredient money and live your un-limited life.

Let me know how your new intimacy is impacting the other juicy areas of your life too.